Hungarian online newspaper, HVG did an interview with Annie Ernaux.

Annie Ernaux (born 1 September 1940) is a French writer and professor of literature. Ernaux was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory"

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She became an adult in late 1950s France, her literary career beginning in the early 1970s. In case you wonder what she had to rebel so hard against:

I was born as a rebel, I cannot come to terms with social injustice. I am concerned about who will challenge Macron, Le Pen or the centre-right Republican candidate Valérie Pécresse.

Zemmour is doing enormous damage to minds, he is welcomed by many, including your Prime Minister, whose name I refuse to say, because he is doing so much damage to Europe.

I am frightened and disgusted by Zemmour, by his revisionism, his populist, extreme nationalism. He is trying to rehabilitate the anti-Semitic figure of Marshal Pétain. Unfortunately, he is in demand.

So basically, she just rebelled along the post-WWII establishment mainstream, throughout her life and career. That’s not surprising, as people upsetting that power don’t get Nobel Prizes in Literature. They don’t get any prizes. They don’t get published.

Annie rebelled so hard that the powers tried to drown her in praise, trying to silence her I assume:

Awards and distinctions

• 1977 Prix d'Honneur for the 1977 novel Ce qu'ils disent ou rien

• 1984 Prix Renaudot for La Place

• 2008 Prix Marguerite-Duras for Les Années

• 2008 Prix François-Mauriac for Les Années

• 2008 Prix de la langue française for the entirety of her oeuvre

• 2014 Doctor honoris causa of the University of Cergy-Pontoise

• 2016 Strega European Prize for The Years (translated into Italian as Gli Anni (L'Orma)

• 2017 Prix Marguerite-Yourcenar, awarded by the Civil Society of Multimedia Authors, for the entirety of her oeuvre

• 2018 Premio Hemingway per la letteratura for the entirety of her oeuvre

• 2019 Prix Formentor[18]

• 2019 Premio Gregor von Rezzori for Una Donna

• 2019 Short Listed for the Man Booker International Prize for The Years

• 2021: Elected a Royal Society of Literature International Writer[19]

• 2022: Nobel Prize in Literature

In addition, the Annie-Ernaux Award, of which she is the "godmother", bears her name.

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No “Controversies” section on her English Wikipedia page. The French does have some, she went really hard against fascists in 1943. Sorry, in 2012. Something about Breivik, a very popular person in France and all around the world, it takes extreme bravery — and a true rebel soul — to dare such feat. She also got 109 public figures to sign it or something. I guess they all payed for this by the ruination of their careers.

But I’m also brave, and a true rebel, so I’m making a public proclamation: I’m with Annie, and I 100% agree with every single one of her controversial political positions. Take that, powers!

This post is a followup to:

A Grain of Paprika

Teacher's Pets Rebellion

How would you call a demonstration that is so risk-free, poses so little danger to the status quo that no harm would come if you were to partake in it? It won’t end your career, you won’t find yourself ostracised from clubs, zero negative impact whatsoever…

Read more

6 months ago · George Menyhei